Frame for article of soft-walled luggage

ABSTRACT

A frame for the peripheral wall of an article of soft-walled luggage, which comprises top, bottom and end walls of the article, consisting of prefabricated corner pieces each comprising end portions connected at right angles to one another and each portion having a debossment formed therein opening into its end edge wherein bands forming the top, ends and bottom of the frame may be set in and secured, as by rivets engaged through preformed registering openings in the bottoms of the debossments and in the ends of the bands; the debossments formed to accommodate the width and thickness of the band ends.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Abraham J. Jacobson 285 East 9115! St., Brooklyn, NJ. 1 1212 [21] Appl. No 851,273 [22] Filed Aug. 19, 1969 [45) Patented July 13, 1971 [54] FRAME FOR ARTICLE OF SOFT-WALLED LUGGAGE 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 190/49 [51] Int. Cl. A45c13/36 [50} Field of Search... 190/49, 50

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,788,871 4/1957 Arlitt 190/49 3,504,772 4/1970 Barry 190/49 FOREIGN PATENTS 518,170 3/1953 Belgium 190/49 Primary Examiner-Donald F. Norton Attorney-Victor M. Helfand ABSTRACT: A frame for the peripheral wall of an article of soft-walled luggage, which comprises top, bottom and end walls of the article, consisting of prefabricated corner pieces each comprising end portions connected at right angles to one another and each portion having a debossment formed therein opening into its end edge wherein bands forming the top, ends and bottom of the frame may be set in and secured, as by rivets engaged through preformed registering openings in the bottoms of the debossments and in the ends of the bands; the debossments formed to accommodate the width and thickness of the band ends.

FRAME FOR ARTICLE OF SOFT-WALLED LUGGAGE The present invention relates to an article of softwalled luggage and, more particularly, to a frame for such luggage.

Soft-walled luggage may be of several types. In one type, a peripheral frame fits against the top, bottom and end walls of the luggage and extends the entire thickness of thearticle, and is formed of a rigid material such as bent wood. Another type of such luggage is provided with a relatively narrow, skeletal peripheral frame, formed of a one-piece, relatively narrow strip of metal, extending only across a small portion of the width of the peripheral walls of the article; serving only to shape the same and as a support for its contents, and also for the attachment of a carrying handle and of a bottom plate for the attachment of studs on which the article ofluggage is restmg.

The present invention is directed to an article of luggage of the second type. In such prior art articles of the second type, the skeletal frame is generally formed of a one-piece bar or strip and presented certain difficulties and disadvantages. Thus, the frame for each article of luggage had to be individually bent into shape with great care, to assure proper fit within the luggage skin. Also, the one-piece frames generally require to be prepared in quantities, in advance of use, and occupy a great deal of space. Another problem presented by the prior art articles is the fact that the outline of the narrow strip frame was generally impressed into the fabric skin of the luggage and was visible from the exterior, to thereby detract from its appearance.

The present invention is directed to the provision ofa frame for an article of luggage, of the character described, in which the need for the time-consuming and therefore costly procedure of the individual shaping of each frame with the ancillary requirement of prior art shaping jigs or tools for each size of luggage is eliminated, to thereby make possible economies in production and in the equipment required therefor, as well as in factory space required in the prior art for storage of a supply of frames and of the equipment for shaping the same.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide frames for articles of luggage, of the character described, whose impression on the fabric skin surrounding it is greatly reduced, if not substantially eliminated, to thereby enhance its attractive appearance.

lt is a further object of the present invention to provide a frame, of the character described, which imparts improved structural characteristics to the luggage in which it is used; namely, by reinforcing it at the corners where strength and rigidity is of increased importance, and by reducing any tendency of the frame to twist as might be present in a one-piece narrow strip frame,

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the article of luggage and the frame therefor of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the embodiments thereof shown in the accompanying drawing, and from the description following. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiments are shown by way of illustration only, to make the principles and practice of the invention more readily comprehensible, and without any intent of limiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofone embodiment of anarticle of luggage having a frame of the present invention, shown in open state, with portions of its interior shown as broken away to illustrate details of construction;

FIG. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of HO. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken-on line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a corner piece for a frame of the present invention.

Generally stated, the present invention consists on the provision of frames for articles of luggage of the character described, formed in sections, including prefabricated standard corner pieces suitable for use with frames for luggage articles of various sizes and capable of being compactly nested; each corner piece having a debossment at each end thereof for receiving therein the ends of metal bar sections-or strips of desired length for forming the frame sides in a manner to have the surfaces of the corner pieces and of the bars continuous.

- Referring now, in greater detail, to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, an article of luggage, generally designated as 10, is shown to comprise a preferably continuous fabric section forming top and bottom walls, 12 and 14, and end walls, 16. The article 10 also includes a fixed sidewall, 18, secured to the edge of walls l2, l4 and 16, and a hinged sidewall, 20, forming a closure for the luggage securable to the edges of walls 12 and 16, and parts of wall 14, by a slide fastener, 22. The walls of the luggage are shown to comprise an outer fabric or skin, 24, formed of a pliable material, such as heavy vinyl plastic sheeting or leather, and an inner lining, 28, of any material conventionally used for the purpose.

The luggage article 10 also includes a stiffening and loadsupporting frame, formed of four corner pieces each generally designated as 30, connected by relatively narrow metal strips, 34, forming the end walls of the frame, the connectingv metal strip, 36, forming the top wall of the frame and relatively short strips, 38, which, together with baseboard, 40, to which they are each connected, by one end, forming the bottom side of the frame.

All of the corner pieces 30 may be of identical shape and size not only for each frame but for the frames of luggage. of different lengths and heights; the variation of such dimension being taken care of by the variation of the lengthsof frame strips or sides, 34, 36 and 38, which may be precut into desired lengths from metal strip material of uniform width and thickness.

Each corner piece 30 may comprise a metal stamping formed from a substantially rectangular section, of a width greater than the width of a frame side and shaped to provide a pair of end sections, 42, connected in normal relation relative to one another by the arcuate section, 44. Arcuate section 44 may be slightly narrowed relative to the end sections 42 by the formation of inwardly offset reinforcing flanges, 46. Each end section 42 of each corner piece may be provided with a debossment, 48, in its outer surface extending inwardly from its edge. The debossment 48 may preferably be of rectangular shape, of awidth equal to that of a frame side strip and of a depth equal to the thickness thereof, and may be provided with preferably a plurality, as three, prepunched rivet-receiving openings, 50, in its floor, as illustrated.

Each frame side strip 34, 36 and 38, is provided with openings, 52, at each end thereof, corresponding in number and arrangement to the openings in the debossments 48 in the ends of the corner pieces 30. By this arrangement each strip 34, 36 and 38 may be disposed with either of its ends in the debossment 48 of any end section 42 of any corner piece 30 and secured in place by rivets, 54, passed through the registering openings 50 and 52, in the end of the strip and the end section 42 of the corner piece 30 to which it is secured.

Frame strip 36, forming the top section of the frame, may be provided with spaced openings for rivets 58, for securing the handle, 60,.to the article of luggage, in a manner that will be readily understood.

It may here be stated that baseboard 40, which serves to a large extent to maintain the bottom wall 14 in smoothly spread position, also serves to receive and hold in place they luggagesupporting studs. (not shown) conventionally used with luggage of the character described, and further serves, likewise as is conventional, to anchor theentire frame in place within the article of luggage.

It may here also be stated that the frame of the present invention may be assembled with the outer and inner fabric layers of the walls of the-luggage article in the conventional manner heretofore used with the continuous frame construction of the prior art; the frame of the present invention not requiring any deviations in such assembling procedure.

This completes the description of the frame for the article or luggage of the present invention and the method by which it is assembled and incorporated into an article of luggage. It will be apparent that the luggage frame of the present invention may have its component elements preformed by substantially mass-produced methods. It will also be apparent that the corner elements of the present invention, which may be massproduced by stamping, may be standard for different sizes of luggage articles; both in height, width and thickness. It will likewise be apparent that the components of the frame of the invention may be compactly stored in nested or stacked arrangement, in readiness for use, as required, and that they may be easily and rapidly assembled by substantially automatic riveting means.

It will be additionally apparent that the frame of the present invention, because of its greater width at the corners, reinforces the comers of the articles of luggage and maintains such corners in smoother and more even state than heretofore possible, and that, because of the placing of the ends of the connecting strips in the debossment of the corner pieces, also maintains the sides of the luggage over the frame in evenly smooth state.

It will be further apparent that numerous variations and modifications may be made in the frame for an article of luggage of the present invention and in the article of luggage formed therewith, by anyone skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth, without the use of any inventive ingenuity.

What l claim is:

l. A frame for the peripheral wall of an article of soft-walled luggage, said peripheral wall defining the thickness of the article and comprising the top, bottom and end walls of the same; said frame comprising rigid corner pieces each comprising a body including end portions connected at right angles to one another, each said end portion having a debossment formed therein substantially centrally ofits width and opening into the end edge thereof, a rigid band having its ends disposed within the debossment of two of said corner pieces and secured thereto, to form the top wall supporting side of said frame, a pair of rigid bands each having one end thereof disposed in the debossment of the other end of each of said first-named corner pieces and secured thereto, and their other ends each in the debossment at one end of still another of said corner pieces and secured thereto, to form the end wall supporting sides of said frame, and relatively short rigid bands each having one end disposed in the debossment of the other end of one of said last-named corner pieces and secured thereto and having its other end secured to a bottom plate, said shorter bands and said bottom plate forming the bottom wall supporting side of said frame.

2. The frame of claim 1, wherein said end portions of said corner pieces are connected to one another by an arcuate portion.

3. The frame of claim 2, wherein means are provided for rigidifying said comer pieces against the displacement of said end portions thereof relative to one another.

4. The frame of claim 3, wherein said rigidifying means comprises flanges on the edges of at least the arcuate portion of said body offset into the space between said end portions thereof.

5. The frame of claim 1, wherein each said debossment in each end of each said corner piece is of substantially rectangular shape and of a depth and width substantially equal to the width and thickness of the end portion of a band disposed therein.

6. The frame of claim 5, wherein the debossment of each said end of each said corner piece is formed with a correspondingly arranged plurality of openings and each end of each band forming the top and end portion of said frame and at least one end of said short bands forming the portions of the bottom of said frame is provided with a correspondingly numbered and arranged plurality of openings whereby said band ends may be secured to said corner pieces by connecting elements passing through said openings in said band ends and said debossments. 

1. A frame for the peripheral wall of an article of soft-walled luggage, said peripheral wall defining the thickness of the article and comprising the top, bottom and end walls of the same; said frame comprising rigid corner pieces each comprising a body including end portions connected at right angles to one another, each said end portion having a debossment formed therein substantially centrally of its width and opening into the end edge thereof, a rigid band having its ends disposed within the debossment of two of said corner pieces and secured thereto, to form the top wall supporting side of said frame, a pair of rigid bands each having one end thereof disposed in the debossment of the other end of each of said first-named corner pieces and secured thereto, and their other ends each in the debossment at one end of still another of said corner pieces and secured thereto, to form the end wall supporting sides of said frame, and relatively short rigid bands each having one end disposed in the debossment of the other end of one of said last-named corner pieces and secured thereto and having its other end secured to a bottom plate, said shorter bands and said bottom plate forming the bottom wall supporting side of said frame.
 2. The frame of claim 1, wherein said end portions of said corner pieces are connected to one another by an arcuate portion.
 3. The frame of claim 2, wherein means are provided for rigidifying said corner pieces against the displacement of said end portions thereof relative to one another.
 4. The frame of claim 3, wherein said rigidifying means comprises flanges on the edges of at least the arcuate portion of said body offset into the space between said end portions thereof.
 5. The frame of claim 1, wherein each said debossment in each end of each said corner piece is of substantially rectangular shape and of a depth and width substantially equal to the width and thickness of the end portion of a band disposed therein.
 6. The frame of claim 5, wherein the debossment of each said end of each said corner piece is formed with a correspondingly arranged plurality of openings and each end of each band forming the top and end portion of said frame and at least one end of said short bands forming the portions of the bottom of said frame is provided with a correspondingly numbered and arranged plurality of openings whereby said band ends may be secured to said corner pieces by connecting elements passing through said openings in said band ends and said debossments. 